Super 8, The Green Lantern, and the Absence of Us in Sci-Fi

So I have seen Super 8 and The Green Lantern Recently and I havent had the chance to really discuss them the way I have wanted to. Okay so Super 8 really hit me in the sweet spot because it had 2 of the 4 top things I really love about horror/sci-fi movies, (there are a ton of other things I dig but these are the top 4)
1. Monsters/Aliens and
2. Enterprising kids!
The other 2 things I dig in Horror/Sci-fi films is a beautiful Apocalypse (which is NUMBER 1) and of course the utter decimation of horny teens with spears through the gut while grunting like pigs in some remote cabin. But I digress...

I love when kids get in on the action and I love it even more when kids are an important element to the story. Super 8 had both of those things. I think the storyline involving the kids was relevant and not overly saccharine. Now I read some reviews that complained about the kids being a bit manic and constantly talking over one another but I think that made them much more real. I mean, teens and tweens dont typically wait for one another to complete a thought or sentence before they start talking so of course the kids were constantly working to be louder than one another. That said the movie did have something I did NOT appreciate. And it has to do with Diversity in Sci-fi. Now there were some people of color in the file, the scientist who, of course is killed and as far as we know, is the first casuality of the film (sigh) but then something weird happened; after seeing NO other people of color for a while, we meet a black soldier who is not only a follower, he STEALS the main kid's locket that contains a pic of the kid and his dead mother. Why did he take the locket? He literally just takes it off the kid with everyone watching, WTH? Then we see the black soldier again (along with a hispanic soldier and another brother) who are all  flunkies of the super sinister white soldier in charge. in the middle of the kidnapping  of the kids  the alien comes and of course KILLS all the minorities first and saves the super sinister soldier last and of course the kids are not harmed. HUGE sigh...I swear, why is it so hard to include the kind of diversity we all live with everyday and is it me or are Asian actors just completely passed over in american cinema unless the movie is about a war or martial arts?

The Green Lantern I did like, although I didnt care for Blake Lively AT ALL! The biggest plus was that Angela Bassett was cast as Dr. Amanda Waller which was a huge plus for me as a sci-fi lover in sable skin. Some people didnt care for it but honestly, if you read or watched The Green Lantern as a kid you'll dig the movie to a certain extent, although the Fanboy critics had a MILLION beefs with it but really they should lighten up! Also, there was a fellow of Indian descent as friend of The Lantern and scientist extraordinaire. He and Angela managed to make it through the entire film, which was a plus. LOL

Well that is all for now. I'm getting over a nasty migraine from the Houston Heat and I need to get ready for work tomorrow. Watson is working on some projects so I can manhandle the PS3 for the evening. LOL

Karmically Us!

Comments

Anonymous said…
This is a discussion I've had at home. Why does Hal Jordan have to be white? Or Peter Parker? Or Hank McCoy? Unless the story specifically requires the main character to be of a certain ethnicity, it's just plain lazy thinking on the parts of the show runners. Arguably, Captain America because of his '40's origins and Thor because of his Norse roots, but why couldn't Don have been Tony Stark and RD Jr been Rhodey? And a high school kid bit by a radioactive spider could be any thing. But probably asian. And female. Maybe with the next reboots. And did you notice how all the white mutants stayed with Xavier, and all the non white ones left with Magneto, who as a jew qualifies as non white as well.
T. S. Snowden said…
Wow! I didnt realize the Xavier/Magneto connection but very interesting! I would just love to more diversity in any way shape or form. An asian female who isnt hyper-sexualized (La Femme Nikita, Lucy Lui in Charlies Angels, ect.) or a villain (Every Japanese horror film import, ever it seems) would certainly be refreshing. And certainly you don't have to Banana Republic everything but sheesh, I'm guessing many of us see a lot of different faces during the course of our day and I'm sure the people who come to our rescue are quite diverse. Thanks Anon for leaving a comment.
Anonymous said…
Well Hal Jordan is white in the comics, but another Green Lantern who patrols with Hal Jordan is John Stewart who is black.
http://greenlantern.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Lantern_%28John_Stewart%29

I don't mind comic book heroes being white if the original character is white, but I do have a problem with Sci-Fi movies that aren't based on books not including black characters. Heck, I'm disappointed at a lot of fantasy books that don't include black characters.


Cocoa Goddess
T. S. Snowden said…
Okay so the main character doesnt have to be black but if youre making a movie I think its okay to diversify your peripheral characters. Good point Goddess!

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